


Found in the Fight

by kamala_khan_for_president



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Other, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Pre-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-14 16:45:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18480265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kamala_khan_for_president/pseuds/kamala_khan_for_president
Summary: As the Avengers are getting ready to leave to fight Thanos, the recently returned Clint Barton has a suggestion for a new recruit for the fight.





	Found in the Fight

**Author's Note:**

> Since Marvel just confirmed that Kate Bishop is going to be in the Hawkeye tv series, this is just an idea I had for how they could introduce her to the MCU that will be proved wrong when Endgame comes out

“Let’s go get this son of a bitch,” Steve said as he looked at the map.

“Language,” a voice chimed in the background. Everyone turned to see Hawkeye stood in the doorway, hair cut to a mohawk, a tattoo sleeve down his left arm. Natasha grinned at the sight of her friend.

“Who’s this?” Carol asked.

“Clint Barton, Hawkeye,” he introduced. “More importantly, who are you?”

“This is Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel,” Steve explained. “She used to know Fury in the nineties. She’s actually who he named the Avengers after”

Clint nodded. He took a few steps over to the map and looked it over. “So this is the plan? Go after him and hope for the best?”

Steve sighed. “I know it’s not the best plan we’ve ever had, but for now, that’s all we’ve got”

“I’m in,” Clint said. “Any chance to get back at him for what he did”

Steve felt his heart drop. After Natasha told him that Clint had left his safe house and was working around the world as an assassin, he feared the worst for the Barton family but had never asked. Now, five years later, it seemed that he was right.

“We all want to get back at him, but there’s not many of us left,” Steve replied. He looked around the room. “This is all we’ve got”

“There’s more than just us,” Clint said. “I know where we can get more help”

***

The group pulled up next to an apartment building in the middle of the city.

“I’ll be back in a moment,” Clint said.

Steve and Natasha exchanged a look and followed him out of the car and into the building. They followed him up a couple of flights of stairs. Clint walked up to a door and started knocking on it. After a few moments of no answer, he knocked on the door again, this time calling to whoever was in there to open the door. Steve stood watching him with Natasha, unsure of what was going on. After a few more attempts, the door on the other side of the hallway opened revealing a woman with long blonde hair.

“Clint, what are you doing?” she asked.

“Hey, Bobbi, do you have the spare key?” Clint asked. “She’s not answering the door”

Bobbi reached back inside and passed Clint a key. He unlocked the door and stormed inside of the apartment. As the others waited for him to finish, two people walked down the hallway, a girl with long dark hair, wearing a black leather jacket and blue scarf, and a blind man wearing a suit walked past and towards the end of the hallway. They went through a door at the very end with “Alias Investigations” written on the window. Clint came back out of the apartment alone.

“She’s not there,” he said angrily.

“She should be,” Bobbi sighed as she shoved past. “Shit, she must’ve gone out the fire escape”

At the other end of the hallway, the door to Alias Investigations opened again and stuck her head out. “Are you looking for the girl in 5B?” she asked.

Clint nodded. “Do you know where she went?”

The woman handed him a piece of paper with an address scribbled down on it. “She’s been going there for weeks. I would’ve told Bobbi sooner if I’d known she was looking out for her”

“We don’t talk much, she just steals food from me,” Bobbi explained.

“Thanks for this,” Clint said, holding the address up. He turned to leave, and Steve and Natasha followed him. Bobbi watched them leave before turning to walk over to talk to the woman at the end of the hall.

***

The Avengers pulled up outside the address that the woman gave them.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Natasha asked, looking at the building with a concerned look on her face.

Clint double checked the piece of paper. “This is it, why?” Natasha didn’t say anything. “Tasha, why?”

“It’s an underground fighting ring,” Natasha eventually responded.

“Fuck’s sake,” Clint muttered as he stalked out the car. Steve, Natasha and Carol followed him.

“Why are you coming?” Steve asked Natasha.

“He’s my friend and I know who he’s looking for,” she explained. “Why are YOU coming?”

“As I am apparently in charge, I want to see who this new recruit is,” Steve said.

“I just want to see what an underground fighting ring looks like on Earth,” Carol added, wanting to feel included.

When they caught up with Clint, they found him over by the bar, trying to get information from the bartender. He was holding a photo out to the man and seemed to be getting annoyed. On the other side of the room was the ring where the fighting was taking place. There was a large crowd surrounding it, so the group couldn’t see who was fighting.

Carol was reading over the list of names, in the hope of recognising the name of the person Clint was looking for, saying the names quietly under her breath. “Sam Ross, Alex Smith, Mia Port, James Peterson, Kate Bishop, Michael Rosen-”

“Wait, what was that name you just said?” Natasha asked.

Carol looked confused. “Michael Rosen?”

“No, before that”

“Kate Bishop, who is she- Natasha!”

Natasha had already started across the room. “Get Clint and come find us,” she ordered as she grabbed Steve and took him across the room with him.

They arrived at the ring just as a girl climbed out, having just finished the fight. She had a busted lip a bruise beginning to form on the side of her face. As she went to walk away, Natasha grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into the corner.

“Hey, get the fuck off,” the girl protested. She turned to hit the person holding her arm but stopped when she saw who it was. “Nat, what are you doing here?”

“Is there anywhere else we can talk?” Natasha asked. “Somewhere private?”

The girl sighed and led Natasha through a door towards the back of the room. This brought them into a short corridor. The girl led them to the end and pushed through a second door. On the other side was a small room with a couple of chairs at a small table and a bag and coat hanging over a peg in the corner. A box of takeout and half a bottle of beer were left open on the table.

“Like I said, what are you here?” the girl demanded.

“Miss Bishop?” Steve asked, wary of her anger. She nodded. “We’re here from the Avengers”

Kate snorted. “I’m not an idiot, I know who you are.” She turned back to Natasha. “Why are you here?”

“I think the more important question is why are you fighting at illegal undergrounds fighting rings?” Natasha countered.

“I don’t have to answer to you,” Kate argued. She went to take a drink from the beer bottle. “You’re not my Mom, she’s gone now”

“And do you think she’d be proud of you if she could see you right now?” Natasha replied calmly.

“I think she’d be happy that I’m alive,” Kate yelled back. “Just tell me that you didn’t bring my Dad with you.” Natasha merely smirked. “Fuck!”

Steve shot Natasha a look. “We brought her Dad?” he whispered. Natasha nodded.

“Where is he?” Kate asked.

“Clint was at the bar getting information,” Natasha explained. “He’s on his way”

“Wait, Clint’s her Dad?” Steve exclaimed. He took a closer look at the girl. “I thought your name was Lila”

“Lila-Kate,” she corrected. “Lila-Kate Elizabeth Barton. Bishop was my Mom’s maiden name”

Steve was shocked, to say the least; until a few moments ago, he’d believed that she’d died five years. The last time he’d seen Lila, a few weeks before the Avengers had fought and split over the Sokovia Accords, she had been only nine years old. Her light blonde hair had darkened to a dark, almost black, brown. She childish grin she’d sported every time he’d seen her had been replaced with a deep scowl. Scars littered her arms, scars that he knew had not come from her clumsy adventures around the farm with her brothers, but instead from fighting in the ring.

“You might want to put that beer away before your Dad gets here,” Natasha said. “He’ll be pissed if he sees you drinking”

“Like I give a shit,” Lila snapped.

“Tasha, have you found- Lila, what the fuck are you doing?” Clint exclaimed.

“Told you,” Natasha said under her breath, earning her a glare from Lila.

“What’s going on?” Carol asked.

“We’ll explain outside,” Natasha said. She shot Steve a look that told him that he should follow her if he knew what was good for her. Steve, Natasha and Carol left the room, leaving Clint and Lila alone.

“Why are you drinking?” Clint asked again. “This is not a good way to deal with everything”

“Says the guy with all the tattoos,” Lila argued. “If you can have all those, then why can’t I drink”

“Because I’m an adult and I can do what I want,” Clint explained with a sigh. “You are still a kid, you’re only sixteen”

“Is that why you left me?” Lila said. “Because you can do what you want? You left your daughter alone in an apartment in New York whilst you went on your angst world tour.” She went to take a drink from the bottle, but Clint took the bottle her from and smashed against the wall. “Hey!”

“I told you that weren’t drinking that,” Clint replied. “And I didn’t leave you alone”

Lila snorted. “In what way do you think that that you didn’t leave me alone?”

“Bobbi,” Clint replied simply. Lila seemed shocked; until that point, she hadn’t known that her Dad and Bobbi knew each other. “We worked at S.H.I.E.L.D. together. I asked her to keep an eye on you while I was gone. And I wasn’t gone all the time, I came back as often as I could”

“Once every two or three months isn’t as often as you could,” Lila argued. “As often as you could would not be leaving me in the first place”

“I’m sorry,” Clint finally apologised. “I shouldn’t have left you.” He took one of the seats at the table and waited for his daughter to take the other seat before continuing. “I wasn’t in a good place, after losing your Mom and brothers, and, for whatever reason, it seemed like the right idea at the time. I can see now that what I did was a bad idea, and that it hurt you and I am so sorry about all of that”

Lila fought back a few tears. “I lost them as well, Dad. I was eleven and I lost almost all of my family and then you dumped me in a shitty apartment with a S.H.I.E.L.D. babysitter that you didn’t even tell me about. I’d already lost them; I shouldn’t’ve had to feel like I’d lost my Dad as well.” She let out a raspy breath before she started crying.

Clint leapt from his chair and ran over to Lila. He pulled her close against him as she cried. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m so sorry”

Lila sniffled and pulled back slightly. “How did you find me? Bobbi can’t have known where I was going otherwise she would’ve told you already”

“The woman at the end of the hall, the one from Alias Investigations,” Clint answered.

Lila groaned in annoyance. “Jessica Jones, I’m guessing Matt was with her too”

“The blind guy in the suit?” Clint asked.

“That’s him,” Lila replied. “I get why you’re here, but what about the others?”

Clint sucked in a breath and started to explain. “We have a plan. We’re going to go after Thanos and get back at him for what he did”

Lila tensed. “So that’s it? You came to tell me that you’re going on a suicide mission to fight the guy that’s already taken everyone else from me?”

“No, I came because the Avengers are seriously running low on members right now and according to Bobbi, someone here has been practising her archery,” Clint explained.

“You came to recruit me for the Avengers?” Lila said, a tinge of excitement in her voice. She stood up so she was facing her Dad. “For real?”

“Well, I was,” Clint teased. “But now you’ve pointed out how dangerous this mission is, I’ve got to say that I’m a little bit apprehensive about taking my sixteen-year-old daughter to space”

Lila hit Clint in the arm. “Hey, no take backs,” she argued. “This does explain why Steve came in here ready to give a big speech”

“So you’re in?” Clint asked.

Lila nodded. “But don’t think this makes up for the last five years”

“I wouldn’t expect it too,” Clint replied. “But if you’re willing to, I want to try and work through this with you. You’re right, we already lost the rest of our family, we can’t lose each other as well”

“I want that too,” Lila agreed. “Can we stop at my apartment at least so I can get my stuff?”

“Sure,” Clint agreed. “But you’re not yelling at Bobbi”

“You’re killing all my fun Dad,” Lila whined.

“I’m your Dad, that’s my job,” Clint defended. He watched as Lila grabbed her bag and coat from the peg and looped his arm around her shoulder as he led her out of the room. “Let’s go.”

As the re-entered main room, Lila turned and headed towards the bar. “Just give me a minute, the owner owes me money.” She marched up to the bartender Clint had been speaking to earlier. “Hey, Gareth”

The bartender, Gareth, looked up when he heard Lila calling him. “What now Bishop?”

“You haven’t paid me for three days, where’s my money?” she asked.

Gareth sighed and started sorting through piles of cash. He looked up and noticed Clint stood behind Lila. “You found her then?” Clint didn’t say anything, just stared him down as Gareth handed Lila the money.

Lila counted through it for a second. “Hey, this is barely half of what you owe me,” she argued.

“Listen, kid, I don’t know who you think you are or what you’re doing here, but that’s all you’re getting,” Gareth snapped. “Now take it and leave with your Avengers friends”

“Just give hand over her fucking money,” Clint ordered.

“What’s it to you, Hawkeye?” Gareth asked. “Why are you even looking for some kid in a place like this? If you’re looking for new recruits, you can do a lot better than that thing”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but she’s my daughter,” Clint replied. “Now give her the goddam money and we’ll be gone”

Lila shot Gareth a shit eating grin and held her hand out as he sighed and handed over the rest of the money. “Thanks. See you never, asshole.” Lila turned on her heel and marched away from him. She and Clint went to find Steve, Natasha and Carol, who were sitting on the other side of the room.

“…and that’s how I used a stolen Nova Corps jet to take down an illegal fighting ring on Xandar without getting sent to the Kyln and narrowly avoiding getting killed by the Sovereign,” Carol finished, leaving Steve and Natasha looking confused.

“I understood about half of the words you just said,” Steve said. “But not in that order”

“Makes sense if you get off Earth every once in a while,” Carol countered.

Natasha looked up to see the Bartons walking up to the table. “She’s coming?” Clint nodded. Natasha stood from the table and wrapped her arms around the younger girl. “I missed you kid”

Lila welcomed the hug and quickly returned it. “Missed you too Auntie Nat”

Steve smiled weakly at her. “Can I get a hug too?”

Lila let go of Natasha and wrapped her arms around Steve. Clint smiled at the sight; this was the first time that her arms had been long enough to actually make it all the way around Steve’s waist.

“We might want to get going,” Natasha suggested. By now, many of the patrons at the bar had noticed the group of superheroes in the corner and some were beginning to make their way over. The Avengers rushed out of the bar and back into the van.

Lila looked around at the group gathered in the back of the van. “Did you bring everyone with you?” Clint nodded. “Why?”

“Our organisational skills have kinda gone to hell,” Steve explained. “We couldn’t decide who stayed behind and who came, so everyone came”

“Is this her?” Thor asked from where he was sat up front. “It’s very nice to meet you, my name is Thor Odinson”

Lila laughed lightly. “It’s nice to see too, but we’ve actually met before. You came to my house eight years ago, when you were fighting Ultron”

Thor looked confused. “Young lady Barton?”

“That’s me,” she replied. “Nice to see you again”

“This has been a weird day,” Rhodey sighed as the van pulled away from the fighting ring.

***

Clint and Lila were up in her apartment, packing the few belongings she’d brought to New York from Iowa into a suitcase. She stopped when she got to the photo frame containing a photo from the last Christmas she’d had with her whole family before her Mom and brothers had died.

“Lila, are you okay?” Clint asked. He came into her room from where he’d been packing up in the living room. He saw her with the photo and came over to stand next to her. “I miss them too”

“It’s been five years and sometimes it still doesn’t feel real,” she said. “Like, they can’t be gone, not really. It just seems wrong. Nate’s been gone longer than he was alive; it’s not fair”

Before Clint could say anything else, there was a knock at the front door. He exchanged a worried look with Lila, both fearing that someone had followed from the fighting ring. Clint approached the door silently, a knife he grabbed from the kitchen on the way past in hand. He looked behind him to see Lila following behind him, bow drawn back. Clint swung the door open to reveal Bobbi. She had a bag in one hand, her batons in the other, looking unimpressed at the reaction from the occupants of the apartment.

“Are you kidding me Barton?” she sighed. “Put the fucking knife down. You too kid. Sorry I lied, but shooting me might be an overreaction”

“What do you want Bobbi?” Clint asked.

“I’m coming with you,” she replied. “The only reason you would’ve brought the rest of the team with you is that you’d be recruiting her for the team. I want in. I lost my husband and I am not letting the bastard that killed him get away with it”

“Okay,” Clint said.  “We should be able to fit everyone in the van back”

Bobbi cringed slightly. “It’s not just me that’s coming”

“Who else?” Clint asked.

***

Five minutes later, the group were driving away from the apartment block, four new recruits in tow. They’d managed to squish everyone in. Somehow, Rhodey, Thor and Steve all managed to fit up front. In the back, Pepper, Bobbi and Carol were all packed into two seats. Clint and Lila were sat on top of her suitcase and Natasha had (quite willingly) used Bruce as a seat, all to make room for Jessica Jones and Matt Murdock.

“So,” Pepper said, breaking through the silence. “What kinda powers do you guys have?”

“I’m ex S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Bobbi explained. She gave her batons as good a twirl as she could in the confined space. “I’m just pretty good at beating people up”

“I have super strength, speed, enhanced durability and I can fly, well it’s more like guided falling than flying,” Jessica explained.

“I’m Daredevil,” Matt replied.

Everyone looked slightly confused by what he said.

“So, you fake being blind, so people don’t figure it out?” Steve asked.

“That’s… not good,” Pepper added.

“No, I’m blind, I just don’t need to be able to see to beat people up,” Matt explained.

There was another silence before Bobbi spoke again. “I like him”

“Me too,” Natasha said.

***

“Hey, Steve, can you take Lila’s suitcase upstairs for me?” Clint asked. “I need to show her something”

Steve took the suitcase as Clint led Lila away towards the labs. He opened a computer that was on a desk next to a large pod. He pulled up a program and started to input some data.

“What are you doing?” Lila asked.

“Give me a second,” he muttered. He pressed a button and an image popped up on screen. “Since you’re joining the team, I thought maybe you’d need a suit as well”

Lila’s eyes widened in excitement. She came over to the screen and took a look at the design. It was a plain black full-length costume. There was a full-length sleeve on the left arm, the right arm bare and a belt around the waist. “It’s good but…”

Clint handed the keyboard over to Lila. “Do what you want”

Lila grinned as she tampered with the design. At first, she added a hole to the shoulder of the left sleeve and then on the hips. She paused for a moment and then changed the outfit colour from black to a bright purple.

Clint laughed lightly. “I should’ve known”

“What?” Lila asked. “I’ve got a hairband that’ll perfectly match that suit”

Clint took the keyboard off Lila and sent the file to print. Next to them, the pod started to fire up. The base of the pod lit up and the shape of the suit appeared. Small 3D printers on mechanical arms began moving around, the suit beginning to appear before Lila’s eyes.

“What the fuck?” she muttered.

“It’s a superfast 3D printer for superhero suits,” Clint explained. “Because we get through so quickly, we need a way to easily replace them”

“It’s like the fabricator from the Waverider,” Lila exclaimed. “You know, from Legends of Tomorrow”

Clint sighed. “Why on Earth did you watch that show? You lived with a superhero”

“You know that I consumed all superhero media available to me when I was little,” Lila joking argued.

“I should’ve known that you end up becoming a superhero,” Clint said. “Should’ve seen it coming a mile away”

The pod beeped and Clint lifted the lid up. Lila reached in and pulled the suit out. The outer fabric was tough, but Lila reached inside and felt a softer and smoother fabric.

“That was quick,” she said.

The pair walked up towards the main area of the Compound. When they arrived there, they realised that even more people had shown up. Clint recognised one of them.

“Scott?” Clint asked. The man turned around and grinned at him.

“Hey, Clint, how’s it going?” Scott said. He did a double take when he took a proper look at Clint’s hair. “Nice haircut”

A girl stood behind Scott started laughing slightly at Scott’s statement.

“Is something wrong?” Lila asked.

“I’m sorry,” the girl replied. “But it’s a really shit hairstyle”

“Cassie, don’t swear,” Scott scolded. “You’ve been living with Luis for too long”

“Cassie Lang?” Lila asked.

“Yeah, what’s it to you?” Cassie said.

Lila grinned at her. “I’m Lila Barton, Hawkeye’s kid.” She turned to face the other. “Is she joining us?” Scott nodded. Lila grinned and grabbed Cassie. “She’ll be needing a suit”

Cassie grinned at her. “Sweet. I’m thinking something red and black”

Scott and Clint watched as their daughters left the room.

“Introducing them was a mistake, wasn’t it?” Scott asked.

“Maybe,” Clint replied. “But I’m just glad that I’ve got her back”


End file.
